North American Soccer League Podcast Episode #6
Welcome to week #6 of the IMSoccer News North American Soccer League Podcast. Once again this week I’m joined by co-hosts Gerry Wittmann and Jay (YankiBoy) Long.
We again travel around the league getting first-hand game reports from correspondents who took in NASL games.
This week Steve Holler checks in from Tampa Bay’s home game against the Carolina RailHawks. Chris Martz joins the show again to report in on the Atlanta Silverbacks home game against FC Edmonton. And yours truly gives you the game report from Minnesota’s home draw with the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers. We also have brief post game interviews from that Stars – Strikers game with Strikers head coach Daryl Shore, Stars head coach Manny Lagos and Stars forward Simone Bracalello.
Gerry, Jay and I review the 8 NASL teams now that we are 5 weeks into the season. We also look at attendance around the league. We talk about the Islanders CFU match in Suriname with Walking Boys. Here is the link to the photos we spoke of in that segment. The photo of General Clark and company in that puddle jumper of a plane is classic. Finally we wrap up with a look at this week’s coming NASL games.
Please join us for this 6th episode of the IMSoccer News North American Soccer League Podcast.
You can find all past episodes of the North American Soccer League Podcast here.
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Another great podcast, gentlemen. The offer still stands on the RSS feed/iTunes notes.
Ski Dawg, I sent you and email last week at the email address you left with your comment. Can you check that please, because yes, I asked to take you up on the offer.
Brian, I checked my email and couldn’t find anything. Could you please try again and I’ll let you know if I got it?
Oh, never mind.
@BQ, Gerry, Jay – Nice job as usual fellas. A couple of things particularly struck me. BQ, you heaped way too much praise on our D following the Stars game, and they got shredded last night in Carolina. LOL Granted only two of the usual starters was in, plus Platter was back in net, but as well as they played in Minnesota, they were the complete opposite in Cary. The last goal I won’t lay blame as the Strikers had everyone forward and the Railhawks wound up with basically four attackers against one defender and Platter. Plus, considering the ref only gave 2 minutes of stoppage time, the game should have been over after the Strikers made it 3 – 2. But the other three were all a result of poor marking in the back giving the Railhawks easy chances.
I for one am glad you discussed attendance. I think it is the single most important thing for the league to focus on this year, and it’s never too early to start analyzing it, because the earlier you focus on it, the more time you have to work on what appear to be issues, ones that you can try and affect anyway. Weather is something every team has to deal with in one form or another for example, but you can’t really do anything about it.
I loved Gerry’s remarks regarding season ticket sales. I don’t think you can emphasize this enough, he’s 100% dead on. Season ticket holders have to be the core fanbase of every pro sports team. Not only are they guaranteed up front revenue in ticket sales, but they’re also the ones most likely to buy merchandise, and they’ll spend more on concessions as they’re attending more games then the casual fan. They are the backbone that you want to build out from. Season ticket holders are moer highly invested in the team, and I believe are more likely to provide some of today’s best marketing for lower tier soccer, which is free word of mouth via Facebook, Twitter, talking with family and friends, and even just wearing your team gear around town regularly.
Some people knocked the Strikers for selling season tickets for $100. I think it was exactly what this team needed to ensure the rapid rise in the fan base from the dead and buried Miami FC. When you’re as successful as the team was in selling those less expensive season tickets (no official team count, but off the record team sources have said they exceeded 1,000) the bottom line is you make up for it. Would you rather have 1,100 season ticket holders at $100 a piece, or 750 at $140 a piece? Money works out pretty much the same, but doesn’t 350 more people per game increase the concession and merchandise revenues? Doesn’t it mean 350 more people invested in your team and hopefully bringing friends and family to games? And the truth is, at $140/ticket, they’d have sold less than 750 I think.
I think you guys are going to be surprised by the attendance for this Saturday’s game. This is going to be huge for this organization. They are going to have an opportunity to absolutely excite and draw in even more people because you’re going to see even more people than opening night at this match. If the gameday experience is as electric and intense as the first two, and the Strikers can send everyone home energized and happy after beating the despised, hated Rowdies, there’s a chance for this thing to become even bigger then it already has. I like the things the team has done leading up to and into the season. Obviously the rebrand and return of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers plays a big factor in the successful turnaround. But I think there are also other things the Strikers have done that other teams could possibly learn from. Attendance is huge, it’s what everyone looks at. it’s a precursor to good sponsorships as sponsors want to know their products are reaching as many eyes and ears as possible before laying out cash. We all need to continue our efforts to help support our teams and get as many people out to enjoy the exicting action we’ve seen all over the league so far this year!